General SportbikesThis area is for sport bike discussion in general. Topics that don't really belong anywhere else can go here. Questions can be answered and addressed to fully understand certain aspects of the sport. If your question is manufacturer specific please post it there.
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If you are able, try to swing by the Swiss border area of France. Freaking incredible. I spent 3 months there, living in the town Villers-le-lac (closest city is Besançon on the French side, Neuchatel on the Swiss side)

Beautiful area. Dammit, I've now spent 10 minutes on google street view there. It's been 10 years and I still remember most everything.

Funny you mention that, I'll be spending New Years eve in a chalet we rented in the Alps, very close to Switzerland.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akumu

Walter, I love you, but sooner or later you're going to have to realize that you're a god damned moron!

I was tempted to go this route, but the thought of not being able to sell my bike before I left turned me off from that.

Buy a cheap beater bike that won't break the bank if you somehow can't manage to sell before leaving. Hell, you could even sell it to a dealership for a loss, but you'd still sell it. If I were in Europe for a year at school, I'd definitely be getting a bike, and doing some epic road trips with it... and missing class A LOT.

God, I think I'd rather not have a bike than have one and not be able to ride it, I feel for ya man. Where are you in France, the South obviously, in past conversations do I remember hearing you were around Nice?

Yup I live in Nice. Have you noticed how insanely popular naked bikes are around here? It's almost as if people just don't like fairings. Supermotos and nakids rule this land. And yeah, having this weather and these roads at my disposal and being unable to insure my bike is a friggin nightmare .. hopefully I should resolve everything by next season. Hopefully!

Quote:

Originally Posted by max384

Buy a cheap beater bike that won't break the bank if you somehow can't manage to sell before leaving. Hell, you could even sell it to a dealership for a loss, but you'd still sell it. If I were in Europe for a year at school, I'd definitely be getting a bike, and doing some epic road trips with it... and missing class A LOT.

+1 I think this guy is on to something. Checkout the leboncoin.fr listings in your area - I'm sure you can find something cheap. The only problem I see is finding an insurance company that's willing to insure you with a US license. They didn't want to do it for me but if you know French (which I don't ) just do the exam and get your license.

Having spent a bit of time traveling the world, I am pretty convinced that getting around by bike in the large European cities is almost suicidal. I rented a car in Europe once and after a day of that I was ready to be done. It was not even in one of the big cities! I was happy to get back on the trains to move around. India and Asia are even worse.....You could not even pay me enough to drive a vehicle there.
Cool you get to live in France. It's one of my favorite countries. Spent a couple of months there and was quite content....great food/wine/art and architecture. Would love go back.

It's just like a video game that has... the element of danger. - Kenny Roberts

I honestly don't find driving in Europe to be too bad, and I've driven in some terrible places (Italy for example, I still say they are the worst drivers in Europe)

In regards to the popularity of naked bikes aLive, yea man, they're everywhere. I've never seen so many Superdukes and naked Kawasakis (they look like the Canadian er6n). Sportbikes are more of a rarity over here than in Canada.

In regards to buying a bike, if I would have found that supermoto you listed first when I first got here, I probably would have bought it. Now that the weather is turning though (up north anyway) riding simple isn't practical anymore. Also as you mentioned, insurance, license, etc etc etc would be difficult to obtain, it's not as simple as some people in this thread are making it out to be. I also believe they have a tiered licensing system here as well, so even if I wanted that supermoto, I wouldn't be able to ride it right away.

I guess I'll just have to wait till I get home, I'm liking it over here but to be honest, I'd give almost anything to be reunited with a motorcycle right now (as sad as that sounds coming from someone living in France)